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Association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and risk of cancer: evidence from 446 case–control studies

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Many molecular epidemiological studies have been performed to explore the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and cancer risk in diverse populations. However, the results were inconsistent. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between cancer risk and MTHFR C677T (150,086 cases and 200,699 controls from 446 studies) polymorphism. Overall, significantly increased cancer risk was found when all eligible studies were pooled into the meta-analysis. In the further stratified and sensitivity analyses, significantly increased breast cancer risk was found in Asians and Indians, significantly decreased colon cancer risk was found, significantly decreased colorectal cancer risk was found in male population, significantly increased gastric cancer risk was found in Caucasians and Asians, significantly increased hepatocellular cancer risk was found in Asians, significantly decreased adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (AALL) risk was found in Caucasians, significantly decreased childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (CALL) risk was found in Asians, and significantly increased multiple myeloma and NHL risk was found in Caucasians. In summary, this meta-analysis suggests that MTHFR C677T polymorphism is associated with increased breast cancer, gastric cancer, and hepatocellular cancer risk in Asians, is associated with increased gastric cancer, multiple myeloma, and NHL risk in Caucasians, is associated with decreased AALL risk in Caucasians, is associated with decreased CALL risk in Asians, is associated with increased breast cancer risk in Asians, is associated with decreased colon cancer risk, and is associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk in male population. Moreover, this meta-analysis also points out the importance of new studies, such as Asians of HNC, Asians of lung cancer, and Indians of breast cancer, because they had high heterogeneity in this meta-analysis (I 2 > 75 %).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of General Surgery, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China

      Shu-Zhe Xie

    2. Department of Gastroenterology, The Second People’s Hospital of Zhuhai, Zhuhai, 519000, China

      Zhi-Zhong Liu & Wei Wang

    3. Department of Neurosurgery, Ezhou Central Hospital of Hubei Province, Ezhou, Hubei, 436000, China

      Jun-hua Yu

    4. Department of Reproductive Medicine, First Center Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, China

      Li Liu

    5. Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China

      Dao-Lin Xie

    6. Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China

      Jiang-Bo Qin

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    1. Shu-Zhe Xie
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    Correspondence to Shu-Zhe Xie.

    Additional information

    Shu-Zhe Xie, Zhi-Zhong Liu, Jun-hua Yu, Li Liu, Wei Wang, Dao-Lin Xie, and Jiang-Bo Qin are co-first authors.

    Shu-Zhe Xie, Zhi-Zhong Liu, Jun-hua Yu, Li Liu, Wei Wang, Dao-Lin Xie and Jiang-Bo Qin contributed equally to this work.

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    Xie, SZ., Liu, ZZ., Yu, Jh. et al. Association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and risk of cancer: evidence from 446 case–control studies. Tumor Biol. 36, 8953–8972 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3648-z

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3648-z

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